Summarize the cartoon on 182. What is the significance? What does it show about Junior? What is his dilemma?
Pages 179 to 198
On page 182, in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Sherman Alexie shows the reader in his cartoon, that Junior has a real issue. In the cartoon, you see Junior dribbling down the court with the ball in his hands. In the Wellpinit gym, he is represented as a devil. Junior has pointy shoes and horns on his head. Above the drawing the words “White Lover” are written. You can also see a word bubble that says “who am I?”. However, in the Reardan gym, he is characterized as an angel, with a large halo over his head and angel wings on his back. Behind him, the words “Destroy them, Arnold” are spelled out, as well as another word bubble “ who am I”. This cartoon is very significant for Arnold because if he is to find out who he really is, he must discover his true identity. This cartoon shows the reader that Junior does not quite know what community he really belongs to; the “rez” or Reardan. The dilemma is that Arnold feels more at home at Reardan when his real home is still at the reservation. He states that in this comment “ I’d always been the lowest Indian on the reservation totem pole-I wasn’t expected to be good so I wasn’t. But in Reardan, my coach and other players wanted me to be good. They needed to be good”{180}. This quote poses a problem for both his family and himself because if he feels more at home at Reardan he might lose some of his sense of culture, tradition, and most importantly family.
Will Arnold lose his roots?
Will Arnold ever feel at home at the reservation?
What do you consider to be your roots?
Do you consider them to be important?
Have you ever felt a moment when you felt more at home somewhere else then your actual home?
I consider my hometown to be major root along with Belmont Day School. I consider my town a major root because I have lived here since the moment I emerged into the world. Without my town, I would not have been the same person. The neighborhood with friendly residents but an isolated feeling created an opportunity for me to explore the world, feeling like I was the only person in the world. I gave myself freedom, being able to walk the pond I live next to, the tennis courts I live close to and the town center I live a mile away from. I have lived this town for my whole life, and I feel as if moving will not break the bondage I had with my community and environment. I want to move and experience the life of a more urban city, however, if I move, my home will not be forgotten. I believe Arnold feels similarly to being in Reardan. His roots at home will never be cut. He wanted to transition to Reardan, yet he never abandoned the memories of childhood on the reservation. On page 118, Arnold illustrates the friendship he once had with Rowdy. Belmont Day School has been another major root to my educational career. This tiny private school on Belmont Hill had been my home for six years. It is the school I have attended for the longest time. I had a small homeroom and only around 28 kids in my whole grade. These friends have been with me forever. I still recognize them, three years later on the streets, depicting the never-ending relationship and memories of childhood.
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ReplyDeleteMy home means almost everything to me. It holds life long memories I could never forget. I grew up there, I was raised there, I was there with my ups and downs. If I ever feel bad or upset, I wish to be at home. My house is cozy, and right when I step through that door I feel relief, and happiness, and love. Except, when I play hockey, and I am skating through the cold air, I feel important, and I love shooting the puck, while I watch it swish into the goal, while the team goes wild. My team is always there for me, and that is such a motivational feeling I could not get rid of No place could replace my real home, but I can't imagine not playing hockey.
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ReplyDeleteI think Junior is also being stretched in two ways because he gets more support from his Reardan community but belongs and lives in the reservation. This will just make the conditions harder to finding his real identity. I think Arnold is slowly slipping away from his roots but he has to keep hold of a little part of it or he will change as a person himself. I think Arnold will eventually have to find his own path in his life so he could make something of his life. For this he will have to leave the reservation but for a good reason. The reservation community doesn't seem to understand that so well and are being negative towards him which makes him doubt himself even more. Arnold's family is most important and he needs them, to ever feel comfortable and at home. Without my family or home, I would be miserable and torn apart. I need my family to support me.
ReplyDeleteArnold won’t lose his roots, although it seems so once in a while. His roots are his heritage, but they are also the people on the rez. When he is hurt, the one thing he can always rely on is his family, back at the rez. When his grandmother dies, the people on the rez “stopped after my grandmother died...no matter what else happened between my tribe and me, I would always love them for giving me peace on the day of my grandmother’s funeral” (160). Although his tribe can be very mean, they still understand he is human. They’re like a huge frenemy, who fights strongly but knows when to back off and can relate to Arnold. Arnold won’t lose them in his mind, because he’ll always have to consider them every time he makes a decision, and he won’t forget them, because they have influenced him so greatly.
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